Cat & Dog Cohabitation

The following tips are compiled from many CDR friends who have in depth personal experience with this issue.

Cats must have their own dog free space. A sun room or spare bedroom works well. There are dog gates with kitty doors available. The kitty space should be like a kitty man cave. Ours have a kitty condo in theirs, toys, get fed in there and all in all know they are safe from doggies.

We let cats on beds/furniture but not dogs to maintain the separate space.

When introducing the doggie, never force nor rush the introduction. They can meet each other through the doggie gate when the kitty feels good and ready. Cats can smell the new creature in the house; they don’t need to see them immediately (which could even be a week or longer).

Add an extra litter box in a new location, even though its placement may be inconvenient, as many kitties protest with inappropriate urination. This significantly helps reduce the likelihood of it happening, and of it becoming a permanent problem. After a few weeks the litter box can be removed.

For a while give the kitties extra treats and attention when the dog is around to create positive associations. And though the dog may be new, it is the kitties who need the most attention during the transition.

If the cat swats at the dog that is a positive development and shouldn't be corrected. That is the cat asserting his/her space and telling doggie to back off. If doggie doesn't back off, doggie must be corrected.

Teach your pooch the "leave it" command (we used a trainer). In essence this is telling your pooch to cease and desist whatever it is doing or was about to do in that moment. It’s a critical command for co-habitation and works well for a million other things too (like counter surfing, chasing squirrels, etc)

It is not unusual for a dog to "cheat" on their cat test. When nervous, they may ignore the cats, and then suddenly show an interest. Nearly any dog can be trained to leave your cats alone. It takes some training, but is entirely doable. The only thing the cat test is really good for is determining a foster situation, as the fosters will likely need to focus on all kinds of other things, such as housebreaking, which will take priority over kitty cohabitation training.

Cats should be able to traverse a room without their feet touching the floor (even without dogs but especially useful with dogs) – this is due to their role as both predator and prey (in nature)

Keep an eye on kitty’s stress level. The stress of a new dog can impact the immune system and some cats have been known to become quite ill until they adjust.

Keep kitty food away from the dogs, which is not good for dogs. Some dogs also eat cat feces, so keep the litter box somewhere inaccessible to the dogs.

In order to get the dog to see the cat as a positive (after a bad foster dog trying to eat the cat situation), I would do the dog's exercises with a cat in the room. Work on sit, stay, shake, etc, with food rewards while the cat is nearby. It seems to instill good cat vibes with the dog.